The
program comprises an International
Conference & an exhibition of products
& services of the telecom & IT
sector

From KHALID BUTT, Lahore

Nov
21 - 27, 2005

A mega event of Telecom &
IT sector- the 6th Telecom & IT Asia-2005 to be held on November
22-23, has received overwhelming response from the IT companies
operating in Pakistan, officials said.

The officials siad that the new
organizations joining the show include Punjab Information and Technology
Board, University of Central Punjab, University of Engineering and
Technology, Telenor and University of Lahore.

Minister of State for
Information Technology, Ch. Asjad Malik will chair the conference.

The program comprises an
International Conference & an exhibition of Products & Services
of the Telecom & IT sector - one of the most vibrant areas of
national economy of Pakistan. The theme of the conference is
Deregulation and Investments in the Telecom Sector, where experts would
be presenting papers on various aspects of the issues involved.

It is being organized by the
Development Times in collaboration with the Institute of
Telecommunication Engineers Pakistan. Pakistan Telecommunication
Authority, Government of Pakistan, BOI, PTCL, Carrier Telephone
Industries of Pakistan and Industry User Forum of the Asia Pacific,
Telecomm Unity Bangkok and Sahafat Group of Publications have extended
their cooperation for the event.

The Board of Investment has
projected the program on their official website www.pakboi.gove.pk. The
major objectives of the venture, inter-alia is to promote interaction
between the public and private sectors, foreign and local investments
and review the deregulated environment in a country like Pakistan.

A number of the companies have
already booked stalls in the event including an Australian company -
SLIMTEL, CTI, Trakkers, Microtech Labs, Acrologix, Concept, Sherazi
Trading Corporation, LT Engineers & Trading Services. Many other
prestigious companies have also indicated to participate. A mobile mela
has also been planned for this occasion.

The event will be inaugurated
on November 22 and is likely to be largely participated by the
representatives from public & private sectors and the general public
at large.

SIE INFRASTRUCTURE TO BE
COMPLETED BY JUNE

The state of art world class
infrastructure at Sundar Industrial Estate near Lahore including roads,
sewerage, drainage and underground electricity will be completed by June
2006 at a cost of four billion rupees, while construction work at its
own power plant having capacity of 225 megawatt would be started in
January 2006.

Chairman Punjab Industrial
Estates Mohsin Syed disclosed this at a briefing to representatives of
Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry and directors of PIE.

He informed that approval for
supply of gas to the estate has in principal been approved and hopefully
connectivity would be provided to the upcoming industrial units in the
estate in March 2006, besides satellite and wireless local communication
and PTCL lines would also be available during first quarter of next
year.

Talking about quality of roads,
the chairman PIE said that these roads would not require any maintenance
for next thirty years as their quality of construction would be like
that of Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. He said that these roads would
bear heavy load of machinery and other equipment.

Mohsin Syed told that Sundar
Industrial Estate is a public-private partnership in the province of
Punjab, covering an area of 1600 acres where 650 industrial units will
be established. This would expectedly provide 600,000 new jobs during
next two to three years. He informed that about fifteen factories have
already started construction while 50 to 100 Industrial units would
finalize their construction plans during next two to three months.

Pharmaceutical, Engineering and
Textile are the three major sectors in which investment is made but
Food, Carpet, Chemicals, Glass are the few other sectors in which
interest of entrepreneurs is seen. Small and Medium Enterprises have
been promoted in this Industrial Estate and focus has been laid on
extending maximum ratio of employment to the area, Mohsin Syed added.